Feng Shan or feng-shan (), also referred to as the Feng and Shan sacrifices, was an official rite offered by the

Son of Heaven Son of Heaven, or ''Tianzi'' (), was the sacred monarchical title of the Chinese sovereign. It originated with the Zhou dynasty and was founded on the political and spiritual doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven. Since the Qin dynasty, the secula ...

( kings of Zhou and later emperors of China) to pay homage to heaven and earth. The sacrifices were usually offered at Mount Tai, the highest peak in the area, and nearby Mount Liangfu. The emperor would pay homage to

heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

(on the summit) and earth (at the foot of the mountain) in the Feng () and Shan () sacrifices respectively. Completing Feng Shan allowed the emperor to receive the

mandate of heaven The Mandate of Heaven () is a Chinese political philosophy that was used in ancient and imperial China to legitimize the rule of the King or Emperor of China. According to this doctrine, heaven (天, ''Tian'') – which embodies the natural ...

. The term 'feng' can roughly be translated to mean "to seal", while the term 'shan' can roughly be translated to mean "to clear away". According to the Records of the Grand Historian, Feng involved building altars out of soil at the peak of Mt. Tai and proclaiming the merits and legitimacy of the emperor to god of heaven. Shan involved clearing land at the foot of the mountain to show respect for the god of earth.

History

Worship at Mount Tai began in prehistoric times and continued through the Zhou dynasty. During the Warring States Period, Mount Tai was located on the border between Qi and Lu, and leaders from both nations would carry out sacrifices at the mountain. In 219 BC, Qin Shihuang carried out what would come to be considered the first Feng and Shan sacrifices in celebration of uniting China. The second emperor to carry out the sacrifices was

Emperor Wu of Han Emperor Wu of Han (156 – 29 March 87BC), formally enshrined as Emperor Wu the Filial (), born Liu Che (劉徹) and courtesy name Tong (通), was the seventh emperor of the Han dynasty of ancient China, ruling from 141 to 87 BC. His reign la ...

Emperor Gaozong of Tang Emperor Gaozong of Tang (21 July 628 – 27 December 683), personal name Li Zhi, was the third emperor of the Tang dynasty in China, ruling from 649 to 683; after January 665, he handed power over the empire to his second wife Empress Wu (the ...

carried out the Feng and Shan sacrifices more times than any other emperor in Chinese history.

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, India, the Persian court in exile, Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla, the Turks, Khotan, the Khmer, and the Umayyad Caliphate all had representatives attending the Feng and Shan sacrifices held by Emperor Gaozong of Tang in 666 at Mount Tai. Wu Zetian carried out Feng and Shan sacrifices at Mount Song. The last emperor to carry out Feng and Shan sacrifices was Emperor Zhenzong of the Song dynasty. Later, emperors in the Qing dynasty would perform similar rites at Mount Tai. There are only six verifiable accounts of performances in all of Chinese history.Record of the Feng and Shan Sacrifices,” in Donald Lopez, ed., Religions of China in Practice (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996), 251-60

References

{{ref-list History of China Sacrifice Religion in China